Are you patient?

You're standing in the express line at the grocery store and the person in front of you has eleven items in the basket. You know because you counted them. And the sign clearly reads, “Express Lane: 10 Items or Less.”

So you decide to do something about it. You tell her that lane 2 is for shoppers with more than ten items. And she just looks at you like, “So what?” or “Who cares?” and turns back around, waiting in line.

And then she pulls out her checkbook and starts writing a dreaded check; dreaded because you know what’s coming next. The check needs the manager's authorization. So the manager is paged. And you wait and wait for him to show up. Finally you decide he must have left the building and then he shows up and approves the check. The person in front of you picks up her groceries, smiles at you, and says, “Goodbye.” And what do you say?

Patience as a theory is great. Patience as a practice is hard.

Do you pray in the bad times and the good?

I guess it’s just a part of who we are as human beings to pray the most when something’s not going right in life. We pray when we’re in trouble, or worried about our health or a loved one’s health, or scared, don’t we?

A father asked his son one evening, “Gary, do you pray every night?”

“Yes sir,” Gary said, “I sure do.”

“Well good for you,” the dad said. “And do you pray every morning, too?”

“No sir, I don’t,” said Gary.

“Why not?” the dad asked.

“Because,” Gary said, “I’m not scared in the daytime.”

I’m like Gary sometimes, aren’t you? I only pray when I’m scared or in trouble or worried. But you know, there are other times to pray like when something good happens to you and you want to thank God for blessing you. Or, when you or a loved one recovers from an illness and you’re grateful.

Do you whistle while you pray?

The minister is praying, leading the worshippers to ask God to supply their every need. All is quiet in the worship service.

All of a sudden there’s this loud, shrill whistle from one of the back pews. Everyone’s head jerks up and looks back as the whistle goes on and on.

Little Johnny’s mother is mortified. She pinches him until he stops.

All red-faced, she jerks him up out of the pew and marches him outside. “Johnny,” she says, “why in the world did you do that?”

And Johnny rather sheepishly says, “Well, I was praying and I asked God to teach me to whistle…and He did!”

Like Johnny, do you expect God to answer your prayer as you’re praying? Or, do you just sit there waiting for something to happen, but only half-heartedly expecting it?

One of the key ingredients to listening to life is puckering up while praying to whistle; expecting God to do something miraculous and listening for it! So as you pray today, whistle while you pray and you’ll make a life, not just a living.